Max Payne 3 News & General Discussion Thread - Release Date May 2012

Since leaving the NYPD and New York itself behind, Max has drifted from bad to worse. Double-crossed and a long way from home, Max is now trapped in a city full of violence and bloodshed, using his weapons and instincts in a desperate search for the truth and a way out.

In the latest issue of the popular gaming magazine Edge, the very first details of Max Payne 3 have been uncovered and the game is looking mighty fine. You can see the information contained in the magazine below, but make sure to pick up an actual copy of the issue to get the best out of it.

Gameplay:
» Max's "classic narration" is back and will make an easy transition between cutscenes and gameplay.
» There will be a new cover system (use the left trigger to duck behind objects and the right to pop out).
» Blind fire can be used while in cover by just releasing the left trigger.
» There is a wheel-based system for selecting a weapon.
» Max has been seen with such weapons as pistols, sniper rifles, rifles, and sub-machine guns.
» You will be able to select two one-handed weapons for dual wield.
» Aiming is not straightforward and predicted. This will give the game a "vivid sense of momentum."
» Bullet-time sequences triggered by events will create awesome slow-mo action scenes.
» Environments are fully destructible.
» There is also bullet-cam sequences where you'll see bullets with bullet trails whiz past you.

Visuals:
» There are "hundreds" of customized animations for multiple characters and situations.
» Instead of the classic comic cutscenes, real animations will be used in action collages.
» Motion capture is being used for animations.
» All animations will be smooth and fluid, rather than just a ragdoll slamming into a wall.

Story:
» The game takes place in Sao Paulo.
» The location was chosen due to its large size and diversity of both the rich and poor.
» Lots of research on this city has been done (similar to the research done in past Max Paynes).
» The game takes place eight years after Max Payne 2 and Max is no longer part of the NYPD.
» You will get a "glimpse" of Max between New York Max and the alcoholic Max he is now.
» The story will surround events concerning both Max and his partner, Passos.

With the information kind of sounds like they are going for the Uncharted feel, sort of. The description sounds much like Uncharted. The greatest thing that I think is the fully destructible environments. I wish this was in more games. The aiming sounds very neat too. Sounds as if you are running your aiming will be more erratic than just walking at least from what I got from the info.

I don't get why not much love for this game so far but oh well I will be playing it.

First images that came out with him shaved and not in the depressing dark streets of New York city probably put a few people off, including me, looks like more and more info is coming out now, I'm sure many will change their minds.

Brazil is 'a fascinating setting' for Max Payne 3 - Rockstar

Rockstar's talked up the radical change in setting for Max Payne 3, which moves shop from New York City to Brazil's Sao Paulo.

The game's art director told Edge in its latest issue that he finds the setting "fascinating" and promised fans Brazil will allow every stage to be different from the last.

"We saw a lot of diverse environments that we could stick [Max Payne] in," Rob Nelson told Edge. "It's a huge city and there's a major disparity between rich and poor. Learning about that, finding out how massive the place is, has been fascinating."

The game's development team - which now stretches across Vancouver, Toronto, London and New England - claims it's put the same amount of research into Sao Paulo as original 'Payne developer Remedy did with New York.

Several members of the development team travelled to Brazil for weeks of photography and filming, immersing themselves in local society, Rockstar told Edge.

"The research is constant, it's anything that we can get our hands on, pretty much all the way through development," said Nelson. "Everyone gets really interested - we're always swapping things we've learned, trying to make sure we're accurately recreating the place. We take it really seriously.

"We can't really re-use a lot of assets," sais Nelson. "Every stage is going to be different from the last one. Brazil is a fascinating place to set a game - there are plenty of unique aspects to the setting that we'll reveal over time. We've got a lot to work with."

Max Payne 3 has been detailed in the upcoming issue of Edge magazine, with Rockstar confirming the return of the franchise's bullet-time, bullet-cam, and shoot dodge mechanics, as well as huge investment in motion capture and the Euphoria physics engine.

Original Max Payne voice actor James McCaffrey is also back, voicing and playing Payne via performance capture tech.

Max Payne 3 will also feature multiplayer modes, but Rockstar hasn't gone into specifics. Bullet-time, a notoriously tricky mechanic to get right in multiplayer games, has yet to be confirmed for online play. "Multiplayer's a huge part of Max Payne 3, and we’ll be going into more detail on it soon," a Rockstar representative told NowGamer.

Rockstar teased the return of Max Payne last week. You can read our last preview of the game here. Will Max Payne's reappearance on Rockstar's agenda put back any potential GTA 5 announcement?

Hmmm why do they have to put MP in every damn game these days? oh well.... might work out, at least its a game with a big budget, so it probably wont effect the resources put for the single player experience.

Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day.
Live and die on this day.

First images that came out with him shaved and not in the depressing dark streets of New York city probably put a few people off, including me, looks like more and more info is coming out now, I'm sure many will change their minds.

Hmmm why do they have to put MP in every damn game these days? oh well.... might work out, at least its a game with a big budget, so it probably wont effect the resources put for the single player experience.

I know! Some games it is a given that it should have it in it. Like FPS and Sports games other than that, unless it is well thought out and creative there is a place for it. But if you are just tacking it on to make the game appeal to more crowds all at the expense of pulling resources from SP, I do not condone. GTA 4 was a prime example of this, in my opinion. This is why I would be skeptical.

I know! Some games it is a given that it should have it in it. Like FPS and Sports games other than that, unless it is well thought out and creative there is a place for it. But if you are just tacking it on to make the game appeal to more crowds all at the expense of pulling resources from SP, I do not condone. GTA 4 was a prime example of this, in my opinion. This is why I would be skeptical.

Couldn't agree more, i guess slapping the MP support on the back side of the game cover helps the sales.

Rockstar Promises “Sophisticated” Max Payne 3

Developer acknowledges games and gamers have moved on since world-weary Payne’s 2001 debut.

Rockstar Vancouver promises that it is pulling out all the stops in development of Max Payne 3, recognising that gamers have far higher expectations than when Payne made his debut in 2001.

“Both the games and the audiences have become more sophisticated,” art director Rob Nelson tells us. “Gamers expect a more fully realised cinematic experience, even if the main mechanic is still shooting. And though this is a more linear game for us, people want to be constantly surprised and entertained in new ways.

“So you need a lot of custom setups, the environments need to be varied, and all of that while keeping the gameplay fun and responsive – people have become really specific about how they want things to be controlled. It’s a lot more work!”

Much of that work, Nelson reveals, has been put into NaturalMotion’s Euphoria, the physics engine used to such fine effect in Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption. “Every game we do, we’re thinking about how to push NaturalMotion in new directions,” he explains. “I think Red Dead was a nice evolution from GTA, and Max is going to be the same thing again.

“We’ve put a lot of attention on AI reactions, making sure that the force of the bullet feels right. It adds a level of weight and realism to every character, and the beauty of it is we can vary the level of control we have over the system to suit a situation, which really helps us to make it as cinematic as we want to be.

“Euphoria is really helpful in making those situations feel natural, rather than having Max crash into things and ragdoll. We can make it feel like he’s anticipating an impact before it happens – that’s an exciting thing we’re working on.”

Well, this explains why we haven't heard anything on a Bully sequel. The people at Rockstar Vancouver have been busy working on Max Payne 3. I want to see some gameplay footage, though, because I'm still on the fence with this game. Also, it's not very surprising to see Rockstar add a multiplayer feature to their games. Although I'd rather see them focusing on the single-player experience, it was a lot of fun in Red Dead Redemption. So we'll just have to wait and see for now.

Max Payne 3 screenshots reignite your bullet-time desires

Rockstar has broken its silence on Max Payne 3 with these two new screenshots.

These new shots show a familiar-looking Max sneaking through a hallway and assassinating some fool clearly outwitted by Max's mad bullet-time dodging skills.

The firm has been way too quiet on the third-person shooter since it got us all excited with new screenshots back in May.

Back in June several retailers updated their listings for Rockstar's crime thriller, pointing to a US release on December 1, 2011. Rockstar kept quiet on the matter, but with these new shots a rep says to "expect a lot of news in the next few months"

I hope FULLY destructible environments is correct. I think developers of Bodycount said that it would be fully destructible, but it didn't turn out that way. Only certain things were destructible. But I believe R* will make the game awesome, like they always do.

» Max will respond "naturally" before, during, and after intense actions, depending on where he is.
» Enemies will all get hit realistically during combat sequences.
» The "bullet-cam" is returning to the series.
» James McCaffrey is the voice actor for Max once again.
» Details on such things as weapons will be incredible (hammer $#@!s back, etc.).
» "Partners and sidekicks" will play big parts in the game.

Max Payne 3 will apparently make its public debut at an event in early October, reports GameKings.

According to the site, the elusive bullet-time blaster will be shown off at the First Look expo in Holland, which runs through October 1-2.

Developed by Rockstar Vancouver, Max Payne 3 has kept a low profile since its initial unveiling in 2009, though lately a few new tidbits and screens have started trickling onto the web, much to our delight.

The game will be released on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Odd place to pick for a debut but I'm not one to complain

Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day.
Live and die on this day.

Posting Permissions

PlayStation Universe

Copyright 2006-2014 7578768 Canada Inc. All Right Reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of Abstract Holdings International Ltd. prohibited.Use of this site is governed
by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.